Removable appliques

ABSTRACT

In an example embodiment, there is disclosed herein a sleeve that has a peel-off appliqué or label that includes desired graphics that can be combined with a drink cup or container. The label or appliqué or “collectable” acts as a “mini-poster” that is removable and repositionable. The label may have graphics of sports starts or other things such as musical performers, super heroes, etc. Particular embodiments include interior die cut images within the main graphic as “collectibles within a collectible.” In another example embodiment, a container appliqué is applied to the container.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/802,613, filed Jul. 17, 2015, which claimed the benefit under 35U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/162,260filed on May 15, 2015 and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/026,070 filed on Jul. 18, 2014, the contents of each of which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure is directed to a container or a sleeve for a containerthat has a peel-off appliqué or label that includes desirable graphicsthat can be combined with a drink cup or container.

BACKGROUND

Drinking cups are widely used to distribute beverages at public events,such as sporting events. The cups may have a generally frusto-conicalshape. The cups may have labels that are shaped to match the form of thefrusto-concial shape of the cup. A pressure sensitive adhesive may beemployed to bond the label to the cup.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a container appliqué

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a container appliqué before thecontainer appliqué is formed into a cone.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a container appliqué applied to a cup.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a container appliqué having a cutout section.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a container appliqué applied to a cup.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a methodology for manufacturing acontainer appliqué.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the state of the container appliquéwhile the actions in FIG. 6 are being performed.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of the layers of a container appliqué.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a container appliqué with multiple cutouts.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a container appliqué.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of die cut patterns on a containerappliqué.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a container appliqué cut in the shapeof a frusto-conical cup.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a container appliqué applied to anexterior surface of a container.

FIG. 14 illustrates another example of a container appliqué applied toan exterior surface of a container.

OVERVIEW OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

The following presents a simplified overview of the example embodimentsin order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the exampleembodiments. This overview is not an extensive overview of the exampleembodiments. It is intended to neither identify key or critical elementsof the example embodiments nor delineate the scope of the appendedclaims. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the exampleembodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription that is presented later.

In an example embodiment, there is disclosed herein a sleeve that has apeel-off appliqué or label that includes desired graphics that can becombined with a drink cup or container. The label or appliqué or“collectable” acts as a “mini-poster” that is removable andrepositionable.

In an example embodiment, there is disclosed herein a container appliquéthat is applied to a container. A release layer allows the appliqué tobe removed from the cup. The appliqué can then be removed from therelease layer and the appliqué can be applied to another surface.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

This description provides examples not intended to limit the scope ofthe appended claims. The figures generally indicate the features of theexamples, where it is understood and appreciated that like referencenumerals are used to refer to like elements. Reference in thespecification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “an exampleembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described is included in at least one embodimentdescribed herein and does not imply that the feature, structure, orcharacteristic is present in all embodiments described herein.

In an example embodiment, there is disclosed herein a sleeve that has apeel-off appliqué or label that includes desired graphics that can becombined with a drink cup or container. The label or appliqué or“collectable” acts as a “mini-poster” that is removable andrepositionable. The label may have graphics of sports starts or otherthings such as musical performers, super heroes, etc. Particularembodiments include interior die cut images within the main graphic as“collectibles within a collectible.”

The label, once removed from the sleeve, can be applied on a self-stickbasis with a repositionable adhesive or by static cling to a wall or anyother surface. In an example embodiment, the sleeve can be made bymachinery to form the sleeve as a substrate (e.g., basically abottomless cup). The label material is printed and die cut. The labelmaterial is edge glued and formed around a mandrel. The label seam istamped closed. The sleeve is applied to cup or container (known as postor secondary decoration) in an automated process. In an exampleembodiment, the Label Materials comprise a 2.4 mil Face Stock (such asfor example, a white, top coated BOPP (Bi-axially Oriented Polypropyleneor other similar material), a1 mil Repositionable Adhesive or othersimilar removable or permanent adhesive, and a 1.5 mil PET SiliconeCoated Release Liner or similar release film or release paper liner.Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that the dimensions,shapes, and materials described herein are selected merely for ease ofillustrations and that the principles described herein can apply toother similar sizes, shapes, and materials.

As set forth above and in FIG. 1, illustrates a representativeembodiment of a reusable container appliqué, or “container appliqué” 10in accordance with the present disclosure includes an appliqué layer 12,which may be for example any suitable material and preferably printablematerial, suitable as face stock, an example of which is top-coatedbi-axially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), or similar material, of anysuitable thickness, such as, for example, a thickness of 2.4 mil. Theappliqué 12 carries printing 18 and is adhered to an appliqué releaselayer 16, such as 1.5 mil PET silicone release liner, or similar releasefilm or release paper liner, by 1 mil layer of appliqué adhesive 14,which may be any suitable removable or permanent adhesive.

In an example embodiment, the release layer (or liner) 16 may also haveprinted matter. The printed matter may be on either or both of sides 20and 22. For example, coupons, game pieces, reward, or any other desiredprinting may be disposed on either or both of sides 20 and 22.

Die cut patterns of representative containers, such as cups made ofpaper or other materials in sheet form or molded are disclosed. Thecontainer appliqué 10 may be applied to any surface of plasticcontainers or cups. Representative container sizes, with which thecontainer appliqués 10 can be combined, include but are not limited to12 oz.-44 oz. size “cold cups” or “hot cups” made of paper-containingmaterials or other similar materials; 130 oz. and 170 oz. popcornbuckets; and 12 oz.-64 oz. plastic cold cups and 128 oz. and 166 oz.plastic popcorn buckets.

For application to tapered style cups, the container appliqué 10 ispreferably crescent shaped, and dimensioned for application to the majorplanar areas of the cup die cut pattern. In a particular embodiment, thecontainer appliqué 10 is generally crescent shaped and corresponds inshape to the die cut pattern for a sheet-formed cup or container, asshown. A tab may be provided on one lateral edge of the containerappliqué 10 to facilitate removal of the appliqué layer 12 with therepositionable adhesive 14, or any suitable removable or permanentadhesive, from the release layer 16. The tab may be an extension of theappliqué material layer 12, appliqué adhesive 14 and the appliquérelease layer 16 beyond the lateral edge of a seam formed when thesubstrate 24 (FIG. 2) is formed into a sleeve (see e.g., FIG. 3).

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a substrate 24 that illustratescontainer appliqué 10 before the container appliqué 10 is formed into acone or sleeve. Kiss cuts 26 along the sides of the substrate allow theprinted material of the container appliqué 10 to be removed from thecone.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a container appliqué applied 10 to a cup 30. Inan example embodiment, the lip 28 of the cup 28 is employed to hold thecontainer appliqué 10 onto the cup 30. For example, the containerappliqué 10 may slide towards 28 and engage lip 28 to hold the containerappliqué 10 in place. To remove the container appliqué 10 from the cup30, the container appliqué 10 is slid in a direction away from the lip28 of the cup 30.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a container appliqué 10 having a cutoutsection. 32. Although FIG. 4 illustrates a single cutout, those skilledin the art can readily appreciate that the container appliqué 10 mayhave any physically realizable number of cutouts and the number ofcutouts shown was merely selected for ease of illustration. Knife cuts34 may be employed to form the cutouts. FIG. 5 is a top view of acontainer appliqué applied 10 to a cup 30.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a methodology 50 formanufacturing a container appliqué. FIG. 7 illustrates an example of thestate of the container appliquë while the various actions in FIG. 6 arebeing performed. FIG. 7 further illustrates an automatic sleeve formingsystem comprises an operator-load label magazine nest 70, a formingmandrel station 180 with actuating wings (not shown), a vertical tampingunit 184, an automatic glue dispensing station 78, a sleeve off-loader(not shown) with stacking magazine (now shown), and a controller 186,such as a PLC control panel.

At 52, Die-cut and stacked label stock 74 will be loaded into a verticalmagazine nest (by an operator 76, although in other embodiments thelabel stock 74 may be auto loaded). In an example embodiment, theprinted material 18 and kiss cuts 26 are included in the Die-Cut stackedlabel stock 74.

At 54, Labels 24 will be extracted one at a time from the bottom of themagazine nest 72 and pushed forward into the forming station 180. At 56,while the label 24 is moving towards the forming station, an adhesive isapplied to the label 24 by glue station 78. The adhesive may be glue ina flat swirl-spray pattern, double sided tape, or any suitable adhesive.In example embodiments, the adhesive may be applied to any edge, oneither the top or bottom side.

At 58, once a single label 24 is in position, pneumatically actuatedforming wings will accurately wrap the label around a stationary mandrelcone. The mandrel is designed to hold the label in position for accuratewrapping and a vacuum system 182 is used to assist in wrapping and toconfirm a “sleeve” is present.

At 60, once the label substrate 24 is wrapped around the formingmandrel, a vertical tamping arm 184 will index down and apply pressureonto the glued area to finalize the bond process. At 62, the completed“sleeve” (or cone) 10 will then eject into a stacking magazine nest.

The controller 186 is a programmable controller operates the system thatcontrols the operation of label magazine nest 72, glue station 78forming mandrel station 180 (including vacuum 182). In an exampleembodiment, the controller 186 comprises logic for implementing thefunctionality described herein. “Logic”, as used herein, includes but isnot limited to hardware, firmware, software and/or combinations of eachto perform a function(s) or an action(s), and/or to cause a function oraction from another component. For example, based on a desiredapplication or need, logic may include a software controlledmicroprocessor, discreet logic such as an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable/programmed logic device,memory device containing instructions, or the like, or combinationallogic embodied in hardware. Logic may also be fully embodied as softwarethat performs the desired functionality when executed by a processor.

In an example embodiment, there is disclosed herein an Containerappliqué that is configured for initial application to containers suchas food containers including cups and bottles of various sizes andshapes. In an example embodiment, a release substrate which carries oneor more adhesively repositionable printed film appliqués is applied to acontainer, either directly or combination with other layers. Thereusable appliqué, (also referred to herein as “label” or “labels” or“appliqué”) is in an example embodiment in the form of a printed film orpaper-based piece with one or more printed and die cut pieces which areremovable from an underlying release layer. The labels or appliqués canserve as miniature posters, emblems, stickers or the like. The labelsmay have graphics of sports stars and other things such as musicalperformers, super heroes, etc. Additional interior die cut images may beincluded within the main graphic as ‘collectibles within a collectible’.

The label is applied to a container such as a cup with a permanentadhesive to secure the entire laminate label construction. When thecollectible label is removed from the cup, two layers of film (base andmid) that are connected by a dry bond-like component are peeled off thepermanently affixed substrate layer applied directly to the exteriorsurface of the container. The container or cup or bottle with permanentadhesive is discarded after use.

FIGS. 8-14 illustrate an example of a container appliqué that is appliedto a container. Referring to FIG. 8, the container appliqué may suitablycomprise a 2.4 mil Face Stock (such as for example a white, top coatedBOPP (Bi-axially Oriented Polypropylene or other similar material), a 1mil Repositionable Adhesive, a 1.5 mil PET Silicone Coated Release Lineror other similar release film or release paper liner, a 1.5 milBreakaway System and permanent adhesive, and a 1.5 mil PET SiliconeCoated Release Liner or other similar release film or liner thatprotects the base adhesive and is discarded in the label applicationprocess. Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate thatalthough the container appliqué is described herein in terms of singleslayers, the label construction may also be multi-layered or “piggyback.”

As set forth above, a representative embodiment of a reusable containerappliqué, or “container appliqué” 80 in accordance with the presentdisclosure includes an appliqué layer 82, which may be for example anysuitable material, such as, for example, a printable material, suitableas face stock, for example a top-coated bi-axially orientedpolypropylene (BOPP), or other similar material, of any suitablethickness, such as for example a thickness of 2.4 mil. The appliquélayer 82 carries printing 84 and is adhered to an appliqué release layer86, such as 1.5 mil PET silicone release liner, or some similar releasefilm or release paper liner, by a 1 mil layer of appliqué adhesive 88,or similar removable or permanent adhesive. The appliqué 82, appliquéadhesive 88 and appliqué release layer 86 are combined with a breakawaylayer which includes a breakaway release material 90 in contact with theappliqué release 86, and a breakaway permanent adhesive 92, or othersuitable permanent or removable adhesive. In an example embodiment, abreakaway release layer 94 is applied over the breakaway adhesive 92,for packaging and handling of the container appliqué prior toapplication to a container. As indicated in FIG. 9, the appliqué layer82 may include or be divided by one or more cutouts 96 in any form andcarrying any form of print or other indicia, as shown for example inFIG. 10. Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that thedimensions and materials here are selected merely for ease ofillustrations and that the principles described herein can apply toother similar sizes and materials. Moreover, those skilled in the artshould readily appreciate that some embodiments may not include all ofthe layers described above. For example, some example embodiments maynot include the breakaway permanent adhesive 92, the breakaway and/orthe breakaway layer.

As shown in FIG. 11, die cut patterns of representative containers, suchas cups made of paper or other materials in sheet form or molded arecombined with the container appliqués 80. The container appliqué may beapplied to any non-critical or hot zone structural areas of suchcontainers or to any surface of plastic containers or cups, such asthose produced by International Paper and similar products.Representative container sizes with which the container appliqués 80 canbe combined are disclosed, including but not limited to 12 oz.-44 oz.size “cold cups” or “hot cups” made of paper-containing materials; 130oz. and 170 oz. popcorn buckets; and 12 oz.-64 oz. plastic cold cups and128 oz. and 166 oz. plastic popcorn buckets.

For application to tapered style cups, the container appliqué 80 ispreferably crescent shaped, and dimensioned for application to the majorplanar areas of the cup die cut pattern 98 and without interfering withthe rolled lip or bottom attachment areas indicated at 100, or the seamas indicated at 102, as indicated in FIG. 12. In an example embodiment,the container appliqué 80 is generally crescent shaped and correspondsin shape to the die cut pattern for a sheet-formed cup or container, asshown. In particular embodiments, the container appliqué 80 covers asubstantial area of the cup material die pattern. A tab 104 may beprovided on one lateral edge of the container appliqué 80 to facilitateremoval of the appliqué 82 with the repositionable adhesive 88 from therelease layer 86. The tab 104 may be an extension of the appliquématerial layer 82, appliqué adhesive 88 and the appliqué release layer86 beyond the lateral edge of the breakaway, whereby the containerappliqué 80 can be removed correctly from the container by separationfrom the breakaway release 90, transported, and then applied by removalof the appliqué release 86.

As shown in representative form in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, containerappliqués 80 are applied to the exterior surface of a container 98, suchas a paper or plastic cup or bucket to substantially encircle thecontainer and substantially cover the entire exterior surface. Thecontainer appliqué 80 can then be easily removed from the container bygripping the tab 102 for removal from the exterior surface of thecontainer 98.

Described above are example embodiments. It is, of course, not possibleto describe every conceivable combination of components ormethodologies, but one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatmany further combinations and permutations of the example embodimentsare possible. Accordingly, this application is intended to embrace allsuch alterations, modifications and variations that fall within thespirit and scope of the appended claims interpreted in accordance withthe breadth to which they are fairly, legally and equitably entitled.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A removable appliqué comprising: anappliqué layer having first and second sides, the first side havingprinting thereon; a breakaway layer; a repositionable adhesive appliedto the second side of the appliqué layer, repositionably adhering theappliqué layer to the breakaway layer; a permanent adhesive applieddirectly to the breakaway layer on an opposite side thereof from theappliqué layer.
 2. The removable appliqué of claim 1, wherein theappliqué layer comprises a bi-axially oriented polypropylene face stock.3. The removable appliqué of claim 1, wherein the appliqué layercomprises a tab.
 4. The removable appliqué of claim 3, wherein the tabis located at an edge of the appliqué layer.
 5. The removable appliquéof claim 1, wherein the appliqué layer comprises a cutout section. 6.The removable appliqué of claim 1, wherein the appliqué layer comprisesa plurality of cutout sections.
 7. The removable appliqué of claim 1,wherein the repositionable adhesive is configured to remain with theappliqué layer after the appliqué layer is removed from the breakawaylayer and to permit repositionable application of the appliqué layer ona self-stick basis to another surface.
 8. The removable appliqué ofclaim 1, further comprising at least one cut in the appliqué layerdefining an interior cutout portion of the appliqué layer within anouter portion of the appliqué layer such that the interior cutoutportion of the appliqué layer is removable from the breakaway layerseparately from outer portion of appliqué layer.
 9. The removableappliqué of claim 8, wherein both the interior cutout portion of theappliqué layer and the outer portion of the appliqué layer are removablefrom the breakaway layer.
 10. The removable appliqué of claim 8, whereinthe at least one cut includes at least a kiss cut.
 11. The removableappliqué of claim 8, wherein the at least one cut includes at least aknife cut.
 12. The removable appliqué of claim 8, wherein the interiorcutout portion includes a tab that is defined by the at least one cut tofacilitate removal of the interior cutout portion of the appliqué layerfrom the outer portion of the appliqué layer.
 13. A removable appliquécomprising: an appliqué layer having first and second sides, the firstside having printing thereon; a breakaway layer; a repositionableadhesive applied to the second side of the appliqué layer,repositionably adhering the appliqué layer to the breakaway layer; and apermanent adhesive applied directly to the breakaway layer on anopposite side thereof from the appliqué layer, and at least one cut inthe appliqué layer defining a single interior cutout portion of theappliqué layer within an outer portion of the appliqué layer such thatthe interior cutout portion of the appliqué layer is removable from thebreakaway layer separately from outer portion of appliqué layer.